Population study on soybeans

Questions about this information? Contact us. November 19, 2019

Updated from an original article written by Bob Battel.

What was the effect of planting population on soybean yield in Sanilac County this year?

A population study on soybeans was established in Michigan’s Sanilac County in 2019. Planted populations ranged from 80,000 seeds per acre to 160,000 seeds per acre. See background information on the plot below.

Cooperators: Tom and Reggie VanSickle
Nearest town: Deckerville, Michigan
Previous crop: corn
Row spacing: 22 inches
Variety: Stine 17GA22
Planting date: May 22, 2019
Harvest date: Oct. 11, 2019
Plot type: strips, 29.3 feet by 2,600 feet, replicated four times.

Effect of population on soybean yield, 2019
Target population (seeds per acre)	Actual population (plants per acre)	Yield (bushels per acre)	Sig*
80,000	88,690	46.0	b
100,000	100,000	48.7	a
130,000	128,571	46.5	ab
160,000	144,047	47.0	ab
LSD (Bu/A)	2.3
CV (%)	2.2
*Yields followed by the same letter are not statistically different.

Yields of the 80,000-seeding rate and the 100,000-seeding rate were statistically different. The 130,000 and 160,000 seeding rates were statistically similar to both the 80,000 and 100,000 rates.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).